If you’re trying to get a tenant in your property fast, you’d better know what you’re doing.
Today I’m going to share with you some ways you can get tenants in your rental property faster.
Screening
Although you want to get somebody in that property as fast as you can, don’t move too fast.
Don’t forget about screening potential tenants. You want to make sure that they are financially capable of paying you rent.
And you also want to get rid of the candidates that give off clues that they’re going to be “tenants from hell.”
Now let’s get back on-track regarding ways to find tenants.
Craigslist
From my experiences, Craigslist is the easiest way to find tenants.
If you have a decent house in a decent area, you should get some hits almost immediately after posting the ad.
If you don’t, make sure you re-post the ad at least once every two days so that it keeps showing up on the front page of rentals in your area.
GoSection8.com
If you’re open to Section 8 tenants, you may want to post your property at GoSection8.com.
It’s a place where lots of people with Section 8 vouchers go to find available rental properties.
Sign in the Yard
Now I understand you might be apprehensive to try this if the property sits in a bad neighborhood; you might be scared to let everyone in the neighborhood know that the house is vacant.
While I do understand that frame of mind, don’t forget that there are some things you can do to protect your house if it’s vacant.
What Do You Put on The Sign?
To minimize the amount of phone calls I get, I like to put certain information on the sign.
It’s annoys the heck out of me to get interrupted during my day by phone calls that are asking basic information about the property.
This is another reason why I’m all for hiring property managers, but I’ll talk more on that later.
Use Google Voice
If you don’t want to put your personal number on your signs or in your ads, you should consider getting a free Google Voice number.
You can easily set up your Google Voice number to forward the calls to your cell.
Property Management Companies
As I mentioned earlier, you might want to hire a property manager to help you find a tenant.
Since a lot property management companies already have marketing systems in place to attract tenants, you can leverage their systems to find a tenant for you.
The good thing about it is that you don’t have to necessarily hire them to manage your property to take advantage of this service.
Depending on who you work with, they might just charge you an amount equal to one month’s rent or something like that.
Offer Bonuses to Existing Tenants
You might also want to offer bonuses to your current tenants.
If you have a good tenant in one of your other properties, you can offer some cash to them if they refer you someone that you end up renting your vacant property out to.
Make Flyers
If you’re going to make flyers, do yourself a favor, and make sure that you print your flyers in color.
I understand that it might cost more to print in color, but it definitely makes a difference.
It’s impossible to truly show the beauty of even the most expensive and extravagant house, if it’s printed in black and white.
You can post these flyers up in Laundromats, corner stores, grocery stores, and any other place that will allow you to.
Business Cards
You might also want to consider dropping business cards everywhere.
You can get some really simple cards that have catchy lines.
For example, you could have something simple on it, like, “Homes for Rent in Detroit and Western Suburbs. Call (586)123-4567.”
Save Numbers!
If I were you, I’d keep and document the name and number of every person that calls me about a rental property.
Why? Because even if they end up finding another place to rent, there’s a chance that they’ll know someone looking for a place in the future.
Birds of a feather tend to flock together.
Real estate investors tend to know and hang around other people that invest.
And people that look to rent properties tend to know other people that might be doing the same, or will be in the future.
Newspaper Classifieds
Of course, you can post ads in the newspaper. But in my opinion, there are so many other cheaper (or free) options that I wouldn’t pay for a rental ad unless I was really desperate.
Plus, I think way more people go on Craigslist to find rental properties nowadays than the newspaper.
I don’t have any data to back that up, but I’m pretty confident that I’m right. Anyways, let’s move on.
Return Calls PROMPTLY
If you miss a call from a potential tenant, it’s in your best interest that you return their call QUICKLY.
A lot of times, a tenant is sitting there just calling from a list of rental opportunities they’re interested in.
As a result, it’s likely that that prospect called on another property right after they called about yours.
So make sure to follow up on those prospects as soon as possible. You just might miss out on a good candidate if you don’t.
Is the Price Right?
Think of the right price for your property. Are you asking for too much?
You might be losing a lot of prospects by asking for too much on the monthly rate and security deposit.
Make sure you do research on what properties like yours are going for in that area. Don’t just guess.
Tenants are looking for the best houses, with the best prices. Don’t ever forget that.
Heck, if you can afford it, you might even want to make sure your rate is slightly under what comparable properties are going for; that is, if you want to rent it out fast.
Allow Pets
I know you’re cringing at the thought of somebody’s wet dog messing up your house, but hear me out on this one.
First off, you’re going to attract a lot more prospects if you promote that you accept pets.
Secondly, you can charge them more per month if they’re going to have pets in your property.
I’m not saying whether you should or shouldn’t allow pets; I’m just here to help you weigh the pros and cons of allowing them.
Make Your House Stand-Out!
Last, but “certainly” not least, is the power of good ole fashioned curb appeal.
Here are four of the biggest ways to stand out:
(1)Price
(2)Condition,
(3)Looks, and
(4)Benefits of the property (e.g. close to freeways, stores, parks, etc.)
Can you think of any other ways to find tenants that I may have left out? Leave a comment below!
